Sharks: TJ Galiardi. The winger has been an effective player on the third line with Joe Pavelski and was rewarded with power play time against Minnesota, taking advantage of it with his first power play goal since 2009. He has points in three of his last five games, and has played nine in a row after sitting as a healthy scratch in six of the eight previous games.

Flames: Alex Tanguay. It’s difficult to come up with anyone on the Flames to fill this space. Calgary traded Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester and is in full rebuild mode, even if club management doesn’t want to admit it. There is probably no weaker roster currently in the NHL, but Tanguay is tied for the team lead in points with 25 (9g, 16a) with Mike Cammalleri.

Last game

Sharks: Marty Havlat and Dan Boyle scored in the first period, and Joe Thornton and TJ Galiardi added markers later in a 4-2 Sharks win over Minnesota on Wednesday at HP Pavilion. It was the Sharks’ sixth straight win and they improved to a perfect 5-0-0 on their seven-game homestand. Antti Niemi made 23 saves, and San Jose was 2-for-5 on the power play.

Flames: Matt Stajan scored twice in the first period to give Calgary a 2-0 lead, but the Flames gave up eight unanswered goals to the Oilers in an 8-2 loss at the Saddledome on Wednesday. Calgary has lost seven of its last nine games, all in regulation. Joey MacDonald surrendered all eight goals on 39 shots.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Sharks and Flames. In the season opener for both clubs on Jan. 20, the Sharks won at the Saddledome, 4-1, behind two goals from Patrick Marleau.

On March 6, also in Calgary, the Flames skated to a 4-1 victory.

Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski lead the Sharks with three points each in the season series. Jarome Iginla and Lee Stempniak lead the Flames with two points each, although Iginla has since been traded to Pittsburgh.

The Sharks are 38-46-8-4 all-time vs. Calgary.

Quoteable

“You want to get the first hit or goal out of the way, or just make something happen out there. Something positive, not necessarily getting on the board, but just doing something in the right manner.” – Raffi Torres